1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture device and method that are capable of detecting a motion vector from any captured image.
2. Description of the Related Art
The previous types of cameras have drawbacks of not being able to capture the image of an object, e.g., person, as is originally intended, and in the resulting image, the object may be off the frame or may not be correctly at the center. This is caused by the camera body failing to remain still at the moment when a shutter button is clicked due to fatigue of the hands of a person in charge of image capture (hereinafter, referred to as user), improper environment where he or she stands, or others. For the aim of overcoming such drawbacks, Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2005-20196) describes an image capture device in which a potential object is extracted from an image result to determine whether or not the image result is satisfactory based on the size or positioning of the potential object in the image result, for example. In this manner, the image capture is prevented from ending in failure.
Such a method of Patent Document 1 is indeed effective for a system that can spend a long processing time such as digital still camera. However, for a system that performs processing within a predetermined timeframe, e.g., video camera, the processing is complicated and thus the method is difficult for implementation. Moreover, with the video camera, it is generally difficult to capture the same scene again even if the scene capture is ended in failure. The technology described in Patent Document 1 is not thus applicable.
Patent Document 2 (JP-A-2004-112550), Patent Document 3 (JP-A-7-30795) and Patent Document 4 (JP-A-5-61092) each describe a technology of preventing an object from going out of the frame also with video cameras, for example.
Specifically, Patent Document 2 (JP-A-2004-112550) describes an image capture device provided with warning means, which designates and traces a correct object region on a screen, and when determining that the object is off from the screen, issues a warning.
Patent Document 3 (JP-A-7-30795) describes a video camera system provided with tracking means, which detects whether or not an object is fitting in a display screen, and when determining that the object is “not existent”, starts automatic tracking to capture the object.
Patent Document 4 (JP-A-5-61092) describes a camera shake prevention device that automatically tracks a main object, and when determining that the main object is put beyond an image-capture frame, makes a notification.